-|Falling Star|-

Mire and slop washed down the bending awry mud pathways. The incessant patter of raindrops falling on the lush damp leaves that bent due to the weight emptying it's water which now fell down on the ground drawing out a continual rhythmic hum of pounding rain. Surprisingly quite relaxing.

The dark clouds sheathing the sky since morning had dispersed imparting the canvas amazing shades of deep blue splattered with indigo. It was almost dusk. The far away trees had already turned silhouettes against the deep shawl of the sky. The village paths deserted. A few shepherd boys could still be seen , walking or rather leaping with banana leaves held on their heads.

The distant call of the nightingale felt ambiguous amidst the slow rhythmic tune of nature. Crickets chimed somewhere faraway , perhaps in the bamboo thickets.

The damp smell of the soil bred in the aroma of freshly fried brinjals dipped in gram flour. The lady , somewhere in her late thirties called out for her elder daughter who laid on her stomach. Her face rested on a cupped palm , held on by erect arms bend at the elbows touching the rugged carpet like the rest of her body. She watched the rain like it instilled life into her.

Get me the plates. Will you Kali ?

Kali.

Kali ?

Maharani ?

Maharani ?

Kusumita ?

Kusmita snapped back into senses. Dullness capped in as she stared around at the various familiar faces regarding her with utmost concern. Blinking her eyes twice she sighed , realisation seeping in. These days the dissociations had become more frequent it seemed.

In an attempt of masking her embarrassment Kusumita began rocking her elder twin in her lap. Since the last two days Sarabha had been suffering from fever and now as he recovered Mahipala had come under the effect. He had high fever since morning keeping him awake and cranky throughout the morning. It was towards the evening that Kusumita felt she might need help and decided to send for the royal physician.

And as news spread Shrutashrava had almost barged in , quite scared but eventually eased when she was made known of it just being fever. Kirtida and Tuhina followed their mother - in - law.

Now as the physician lady was still checking Mahipala , Sarabha slept soundly at his mother's lap. The continual patting and humming had in due course subsided when Kusumita was once again plagued with thoughts curbing her minimal act of lingering in present. These days it was becoming more tough , sometimes she had to dig through her conscience to pay attention to her surroundings.

"Your highness , the prince is alright , however you must be cautious in keeping the other prince away from his brother else he might catch fever again." The royal physician , an old lady with creases and marks all over her face smiled through her stretched lines.

Kusumita subtly nodded.

"Twins are difficult to manage , aren't they ?" Kirtida cradled the child in her arms.

"They sometimes are , but with all the aid and help served to us at all times , we aren't supposed to be complaining. Right ?" Kirtida looked a bit skeptical before nodding along the humourless laughter of the queen.

"We aren't supposed to be complaining.." Tuhina looked down hard at the cold marble floors , eyes wide open , lips painting a reminiscent smile. Kirtida well knew where the conversation was headed to. At times it disturbed her mentally hence she mostly tried to keep herself away from indulging into such a chat the matters of which remained foreign , quite extraneous to her. Something she was glad about.

The splendid palace of Chedi stood strikingly prominent under the eminence of moonlight. The king housed in all his glory. The other princes of Chedi , his brother. Their wives , children and all leaving in harmony under the same roof was a mere mirage rented in the thoughts of the commoners , of something utterly unattainable.

Tuhina was now so much different than when Kirtida had first met her , a good eight years ago when she had crossed the threshold of the palace as the wife to the youngest son of Shrutashrava. Tuhina had stood beside Kusumita all smiles , while Kusumita rotated the aarti plate welcoming the newest extension of their family.

Days were different then when Tuhina was still a beaming young woman and Kusumita a bashful , elegance holding onto the pride of the queen. The three of them would often walk into the palace gardens , basking in the company of eachother as in that of the afternoon sun , warming their hands feets chilled by the marble interiors of the palace and at times when Kusumita couldn't spare time to there recesses Tuhina would still be there.

Overtime things changed , rendering them into the mercies of reminensce.

Ripped by the unmistakenly evident ignorance of her husband Kusumita barely left her room , not even for a little fresh air in the evening except to visit the bathroom and once a month , on every Amavasya visit the Devi temple half a furlong away. Grossly reclusive she spent her days tending to her infants and to her elder children as and when they barged into their mother's company. Her eldest mostly didn't , he preferred his father's company more than hers and she didn't blame him for this. Her children shouldn't be blemishing their childhood sprawling in her melancholy. They didn't deserve any of it. And , hence even when the other three of her elder children wouldn't visit her for days , she won't call for them. She let them be.

Chosen by a powerful prince of such a thriving empire , Tuhina had once entered the palace like a proud woman , supremely confident of herself and of the love she had seen in the eyes of her husband when he had asked for her hand in marriage. But as the first few years flew rolled by , her dreams crashed hard against reality. She saw her husband for who he truly was , a ruthless enthusiast of beauty. Someone for whom his women were to be used in rare moments of passion and to be looked through with his hard cold eyes if they ever crossed his path later. Like any woman would Tuhina had lost her youthful charm , when she carried her first child. Swollen belly and face wasn't something to fascinate Kushadhysha who brought home other women. His two other wives though hugely insignificant had successfully disabled Tuhina who mentally could never again acknowledge , she was beautiful. She lived through her days changing her garments at the smallest speck of dirt and decking herself several times a day only to be betrayed by the ignorant notion of her husband.

Soured and embittered Kusumita and Tuhina now spend their days in a nervous frenzy hoping to catch a sight of their beloved and to relive the spark they had during the first few years of their marriage.

Fate had been largely merciful to Kirtida to spare her from meeting such a fate as her elder sister - in - laws. Dasgreeva loved and adored his wife to every fleck of being a husband. They led a happy life with their daughter. However , the doubt never really left her.

What if someday he too had a change of heart ?

                                  ×

Secretly and hidingly
Underneath the blanket of the night
May even the moon be quiet
May it walk behind the clouds
To my eyes, give a dream so beautiful
To my eyes, give a dream so wonderful

Shrutashrava rhythmically patted , humming the only portion of the lullaby she could remember her mother humming to her and her sisters as they laid cuddling each other. Both her granddaughters laid on either side of her. Sanyogitha had long since fallen asleep , her arms snaked around her grandmother's waist. For Karenumati sleep was still a distant element , cross - legged she laid quietly. Staring at the night sky with wide eyes.

"Why don't you sleep Priya ?" Shrutashrava gently stroked her raven locks that laid bundled near her waist.

"What is that ?" She gawked at her grandmother for an explanation of the sudden strike of light that rocketed across the sky.

Shrutashrava looked up to see the falling star , her hand abruptly touching her temples as she murmured a silent prayer.

"What's that ?" Karenumati repeated , a second strike of light followed the first one.

"Those are falling stars."

"Stars fall ?"

"Yes. They fall when a noble soul goes up to heaven."

                                 ×

Brisk dark smoke wafted up to heaven. The thick flames swallowing the bodies hungrily. The strong smell of flesh burning mixed with the odour of burning wood muddled the environ of the forest.

Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the burning pyre of their king. His family stood around in small circles. Satyavati stood the closest to the burning pyre. Dangerously still for anyone to usher her into moving back. Next to her stood Vidur silently mourning his beloved brother's death.

Bhishma stood at a distance , his hand supportively held Yudisthir. The young boy who suddenly seemed to have aged so much in the past few hours.

Vidur held Bheem who wept silently with his eyes closed , his one hand clutched Sahdev's shoulders while the other gaurded Sahdev's eyes from witnessing the disturbing scene.

Arjun hid his face in his mother's embrace , his frame shook from the fits of crying. Paled from the impact of the loss Kunti held her weeping child in her lap , her other hand slipped into Nakul's who stood beside her , deadly still.

His eyes closely watched the agony unfold as the fire hungrily devoured both his parents. The sitting form of his mother now deduced to a burning carcass fell atop her husband's corpse. The fire allowing no mark of theirs to live on. Only the ashes.

Their souls wafted to heaven.